


Looker in Galar

by Siddell



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Crime Fighting, Detective Noir, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26885116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siddell/pseuds/Siddell
Summary: Detective story about Looker in Galar after the events of the games, as he tries to clear up the mess left behind by Rose. Follow him as he tries to unravel what was really going on at Macro Cosmos, and if Rose was really working by himself. Could there have been someone else pulling the strings?
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

The sea had been uncharacteristically stormy for this time of year. The Hulbury harbor was usually a calm and serene place, filled with people hanging around or fishing on the docks, but the brutal storm winds had forced them all inside. Waves crashed against the wood of the pier as the large ferry tried its very best to stay upright on the unruly sea. Guided by the light of the famous Hulbury lighthouse it eventually managed to land safely at the assigned docking station, much to the relieve of the many passengers it was carrying.  
All these passengers had wisely decided to stay inside their cabins; all except for one man, who stood on the deck of the ship as if the storm didn’t bother him in the slightest. His long raincoat kept him warm enough, though it couldn’t prevent his brown suit from getting completely soaked in the pouring rain. He smiled a subtle smile, completely invisible under the dark storm clouds that blocked out the morning sun. Most people wouldn’t dare to go out on the deck of a ship in a storm like this, but after his adventures a few years ago this all felt like a calm summer breeze.  
The harbor was just as empty as the deck of the ship. Everybody had taken shelter inside their houses, except for two figures that were little more than shadows in the rain. He knew the two women would be waiting for him here, and he had memorized their names carefully: gym leader Nessa, and professor Sonia. Their reputation preceded them, but still he was eager to meet them personally to see just what kind of people he was dealing with here. They had spotted him and started waving to him, even though it must have been impossible for them to know for sure that it was him. As a response he raised his hand as well.  
The ferry came to a grinding halt, still wobbling gently in the waves, as the crew lowered the walking bridge to the docks. The man took up his one suitcase, felt if the two Poké Balls in his pocket were still there, and calmly walked over the bridge to the solid ground of Hulbury. Nessa and Sonia were already waiting for him at the end of the bridge to greet him. He pulled a hand through his drenched hair to keep it out of his eyes, smiled to the two women, and took a good look around.  
Looker had arrived in Galar.

The Captain’s Table was not only famous in Hulbury, but far beyond the shores of Galar too. Looker had met many sailors in his travels, and all of them agreed that the single greatest seafood restaurant in the world was The Captain’s Table in Hulbury. As the waiter hurried away with their order – Looker and Sonia had both ordered the famous chowder while Nessa had settled for a kelp salad – Looker turned his attention to the women across the table from him to get to the order at hand.  
‘I assume you know why I’m here,’ he said. It wasn’t a question: his supervisors had already forwarded all the necessary information to Sonia’s office and the headquarters of the Galar Pokémon League. The two women nodded.  
‘It’s not hard to see why,’ Nessa said with a friendly smile. ‘Everyone in Galar knows of the events of the past few months. It was kind of hard to miss.’ She spoke friendly, but the smile never reached her eyes. There was caution in her look, as if she was afraid that somehow this investigation would turn on her as well. Looker made a mental note of it, as he did with all things he noticed, and decided that he would have to read through her file one more time that night.  
‘Match fixing, destruction of heritage sites, misuse of energy for personal enrichment, illegal usage of Pokémon for financial gain, and most of all: endangering the lives of people and Pokémon in unlicensed experimentation. These are very serious allegations ladies.’ Looker wasn’t telling them anything they didn’t know already, but he liked to make sure they all knew what was at stake before he began. This gave him a chance to see their initial reactions to his task. It was as he expected: solemn nods and somber looks.  
‘And we take them very serious, mister Looker,’ Sonia said in a soothing tone. She was very different from Nessa: much more open and calm, clearly willing to cooperate. This was a woman who knew she had nothing to fear from this investigation. ‘Me, my assistant Hop, and every resource in our lab are at your complete disposal. We will help you with whatever you need.’  
‘Much appreciated,’ Looker said with a nod and a smile. Sonia smiled back, and for a brief moment it looked like she was blushing a little. Looker put the thought out of his mind immediately; there were much more important things right now. ‘So if I understand it correctly, the person responsible was the chairman of your Pokémon League, a mister Rose?’  
‘Yes, him and his assistant Oleana,’ Nessa quickly said. ‘They confessed to everything.’  
‘And where are they now?’  
‘They are currently working in the Galar mines as a way of serving their sentence,’ Sonia said.  
Looker frowned. ‘Sentenced by who?’ Both women looked at each other in puzzlement, as if this was the first time that they wondered this question as well. Looker had predicted this answer already: Rose was the de facto ruler of the region, running not only its economy but its Pokémon League as well, and thereby essentially controlling law enforcement. Looker was fairly certain that the mine would be run by Rose’s own company.  
‘And who helped them in their plans?’ he asked, to save the women the embarrassment of having to answer his earlier question.  
‘Macro Cosmos,’ they both said in unison, glad to be able to change the topic.  
‘And who might they be?’  
‘A subsection of Rose’s company,’ Sonia explained. ‘They ran security at the gym challenges, and, as we now know, were secretly draining dynamax energy from those battles as well.’  
‘What happened to them after Rose surrendered?’  
‘They scattered. Some surrendered with him, others stayed in the company, and some just disappeared. They haven’t caused any more trouble though.’  
Looker nodded in understanding, but the story sounded far too familiar. It reminded him of Seven Sages who once also surrendered and caused no more trouble, until one day they definitely did. Tracking down the remaining members of Macro Cosmos would be priority number one.  
‘And from what I understand they had some more help as well.’ Nessa’s eyes twitched for a moment, just as Looker had expected. ‘A challenger named Bede.’  
The fear in Nessa’s eyes changed into confusion, and Sonia frowned for a moment as well. ‘Bede? No, he wasn’t in on this. He was just a gym challenger, who had Rose’s endorsement for the championship.’  
‘I have multiple accounts of people saying he used a Copperajah to destroy a mural in Stow-on-Side to look for gems in the mountainside there.’  
‘Y-yes, that is true…’ Sonia hesitated. ‘But that wasn’t his fault. Rose set him up for that. That Copperajah wasn’t even his, it was Rose’s.’  
‘Hm. Nonetheless, I would very much like to speak to this Bede.’  
‘He is currently the gym leader in Ballonlea, and you can no doubt find him there.’  
Looker nodded. ‘And then lastly, there is the matter of the former champion Leon.’  
Now Sonia’s eyes turned cold. ‘What about him?’  
‘Leon and Rose worked together closely on a lot of matters. We have reason to believe that Leon was not only aware of Rose’s intentions, but even enable him in executing his plans.’  
‘Leon is a lot of things, believe me on that,’ Sonia said, with a sudden fire in her voice. ‘But he is no criminal! He would never, ever!, endanger the people of Galar!’  
‘I can confirm that,’ Nessa said. ‘Leon may not have been the brightest bulb out there, but he would never go along with Rose’s plans for the region. In fact, he was the one who stopped Rose!’  
Looker smiled. ‘I heard that. Leon stopped Rose and prevented the Darkest Day all by himself, without the help of anyone else. And to celebrate that, he voluntarily resigns as champion. That’s a strange story, isn’t it?’  
The hesitation of the two women told Looker all he needed to know: there was definitely more to it. He stared out the window for a moment while he organized his thoughts and considered all the places he needed to go for his investigation. The weather outside had started to clear up a bit and the sunshine was now breaking through the dark clouds, bathing the harbor in a pleasant light. He frowned. For a brief moment it seemed like there was something moving behind the statue next to the lighthouse. Something small, in the shadows, hiding away from the outside world.  
He shrugged. Whatever it was, it had disappeared again. He looked back at his two dining companions. They had given him enough information for now, no need to keep discussing this. The waiter just then brought out their food, and they both seemed happy to have the distraction from the uncomfortable questioning. Over lunch they chit-chatted about all sorts of things, getting to know each other a little better, and like the weather the conversation quickly turned to a much more pleasant atmosphere. Nessa insisted on paying for lunch, and Looker wasn’t one to question an offer like that. He looked over to the lighthouse one more time, but upon seeing nothing he turned back and asked: ‘Am I correct in understanding that you have prepared a room for me here?’


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The room was not much to talk about. It was on the ground floor of one of the houses in Hulbury that all looked the same. It consisted of a small living room/kitchen combination with a bedroom attached to it. The most important aspect of it though, was the basement of the building. Nessa had assured him that he was the only one who could use it, and Looker wasted no time in making it his office. The dark room already had a desk, a table and a cork board in it. Looker smiled; it was almost as if Sonia and Nessa had known what he was going to use the basement for. The room was lit only by a small lamp standing on the desk and a single lightbulb dangling from the ceiling: the perfect atmosphere for Looker to work in.  
He grabbed his bag and walked to one of the shelves on the wall. From the bag he took his most prized possession: a small copper pedestal with a glass casing. He took one of the two Poké Balls from his pocket and placed it on the pedestal, placing the whole thing on the shelf in such a way that it grabbed just enough of the light in the shadowy room. Looker gently placed his hand on the glass and closed his eyes for a moment.  
‘Until we meet again, old friend.’  
He stood there, motionless, for a few moments as he let the feelings and emotions wash over him. Then he opened his eyes again: it was time to get to work.

The first appointment was with Nessa. Looker had decided that he wanted to speak to both of the women separately, without them knowing it. Maybe they’d let up something more than they had said at first. You didn’t need to be a world class detective to see that they were hiding something.  
The gym leader walked down the basement stairs with a joyless smile. ‘I see you’ve made yourself at home immediately. You know, we can give you some more lamps so it won’t be as dark here.’  
‘Oh don’t worry,’ Looker smiled back. ‘I like it this way. Limits the distractions, it keeps me sharp and focused.’  
Nessa looked around a bit, stopping at the Poké Ball on the pedestal. Looker could see the questions burning in her eyes, but she wisely kept them to herself. Instead she turned around and laid her piercing blue eyes on Looker.  
‘So why did you ask me to come here?’  
Looker smiled, genuinely this time. Straight to the point. He liked that. ‘There are some things that don’t add up. And I wouldn’t be doing my job right if I didn’t look deeper into it, now would I?’  
Nessa’s look turned colder, more defensive.  
‘What exactly are you talking about?’ she asked, with a soft but determined voice.  
Looker stared back at her, unwavering, unwilling to lose the battle of wits that would always accompany these interrogations.  
‘From what I heard chairman Rose was a frequent visitor to this town and its restaurant.’  
‘Rose was a frequent visitor to any town in the League Challenge.’  
‘But not like this. He would always come here in disguise, wouldn’t he? Hoping nobody would recognize him. Secretively, incognito, hidden away from prying eyes. What made you and your town so special, Nessa?’  
She moved a little closer to Looker and squinted, her eyes still filled with the fiery determination that she had shown before. Looker also felt like there was some anger in it now. He had often seen that with suspects when they knew they were close to being caught.  
‘I know what you came here to do,’ she said. ‘You think you’ve got all the answers, don’t you? You’ve got it all figured out? Well go on then, spit it out! No use in walking around it. Just say it!’  
‘You were in on it!’ Looker shouted. He quietly cursed himself; it was a rookie mistake to get caught up in the anger of the suspect. ‘Rose was planning his whole thing right here in this town, right under your nose! What did he promise you? A position as the new champion? Everyone knows how competitive you are, surely you’ve got higher ambitions than just this gym!’  
Her eyes suddenly widened, and the anger in her gaze disappeared like snow on a sunny day. The defensiveness in her stance turned to confusion and surprise, her mouth falling open ever so slightly.  
‘Wait…’  
‘Oh you don’t have to play foolish with me,’ Looker said. He had her right where he wanted her. ‘I’ve been doing this far too long to get tricked by that. I’m guessing it’s no coincidence that your town is adjacent directly to the mine where Rose and Oleana are currently working. Was that part of your deal as well?’  
‘You idiot, you’ve got this all wrong!’ Nessa shouted, a slight panic in her voice. Now it was Looker’s turn to be surprised: he had expected her to admit right about now, not this. ‘Rose isn’t even in this mine!’  
‘Yes he is! You said so yourself earlier, at the restaurant.’  
‘The mine here is called Galar Mine 2. Rose is in Galar Mine 1, close to Turfield. That’s on the other side of the region!’  
It got quiet for a moment in the room as Looker let this new information sink in. His entire theory rested on the idea that Nessa could be secretly helping out Rose with his sentence, but if he was nowhere near Hulbury… He sunk back into his chair and buried his head in his hands.  
‘Did you honestly think I would help that maniac out?’ Nessa asked. ‘I’m just as disgusted by what he did as everyone else. He ruined the good name of this entire region!’  
‘But then why were you so defensive?’  
‘Because I thought you came here to shut down my gym. I didn’t think you’d accuse me of working with a madman.’  
Looker let out a deep sigh. ‘Well, so much for that theory then. Back to square one.’ He and Nessa looked at each other, both in a completely different mindset than five minutes earlier.  
‘I’m sorry I called you an idiot.’  
‘I’m sorry I accused you of conspiring with a terrorist.’  
The room fell silent again, in a much more awkward way this time. Nessa didn’t know where to look, while Looker tried his best to hide his embarrassment.  
‘I uh… I think I should probably be going,’ Nessa said after a while.  
‘Yes, I… I think that is probably best,’ Looker said. He stood up and straightened his suit a bit. He and Nessa both gave each other a courteous but cold nod as she left. After he heard the door close behind her, Looker let his head hang and breathed out heavily. He looked up at the Poké Ball in the glass casing and shook his head.  
‘Well that was a bust. Any ideas on what to do now, little buddy?’ He kept quiet for a moment, as if he expected the Poké Ball to actually answer, even though he knew that it wouldn’t. ‘Yeah, I didn’t think so. Seems like we’ve got our work cut out for us. This is going to be much more difficult than I thought.’


	3. Chapter 3

‘So this is where you’re working?’ Sonia asked. She had taken off her brown overcoat, making her green sweater the brightest thing in the room. Her hair took on an amber glow in the dark room as she stood with her back to Looker, staring at the same pedestal that Nessa had been looking at a few hours earlier. Just like Nessa, Sonia was smart enough not to ask any questions about the Poké Ball inside.  
‘Sorry for the light,’ Looker said.  
‘Don’t be,’ Sonia said, as she turned around with a smile. She laid her piercing green eyes on Looker. They seemed even brighter surrounded by the dark glow of her hair. ‘I like it this way. Reduces distraction, keeps the mind sharp.’  
Looker raised one eyebrow as he answered her smile. It was almost as if she had already been talking to Nessa.  
‘I had some more questions.’  
‘So you mentioned,’ she said, as she moved a step closer. It was difficult to see in this light, but it almost seemed as if she was blushing. Looker had noticed something similar in the restaurant. He frowned. She wasn’t…. right?  
‘You said you were looking into some of your own things when you crossed paths with Rose. What was that?’  
‘Sorry, can’t say,’ she said with a coy smile. ‘Official professor business.’  
Looker couldn’t help but grin. It was refreshing to see a professor this much on top of the problems of the region. He could clearly see that Sonia wasn’t going to let herself get tricked by her opponents; not every professor Looker had met could say the same thing.  
‘And that official professor business just happened to take you to all the places where Rose was executing his plan? Stow-on-side, Hammerlocke, you have a real knack for being in the right place at the right time.’  
‘If you plan on accusing me of working with Rose, then I can stop you right there,’ she said calmly. Her voice wasn’t angry, as if she was anticipating this already. So she really had been talking to Nessa.  
‘Oh I would never,’ Looker said with a friendly smile, which Sonia immediately answered. ‘No, you are clearly not the type to work with a madman such as him.’ He slyly looked at her face to see if she would betray anything. She in turn looked away, as if she was afraid to meet his eyes. No, he corrected himself, not afraid. Shy. And the blush was definitely there. Crap.  
‘Well I’m flattered that you think that highly of me, mister Looker.’  
‘No, I’m much more inclined to think you worked with Leon.’  
Her features hardened instantly. The smile and blush disappeared from her face and her eyes turned cold, as if he had just insulted her entire being. _Careful Looker,_ he said to himself. _Don’t push it too far._  
‘With Leon?!?’ she said indignantly.  
‘I’m just trying to figure out what your relationship is exactly,’ he said calmly, trying to prevent another outburst like he had just had with Nessa. ‘You two have a clear history, and there is a lot you’re not telling me about the prevention of the Darkest Day. So if you’re not to blame, then I just have a very simple question: what are you not telling me, miss Sonia?’  
She sighed, resigning to the situation. Looker let out a sigh of his own too, not as obvious though, happy that he wasn’t heading for another confrontation.  
‘You’re right, Leon and I have history. We’re childhood friends, we grew up together. When we were old enough we both took our gym challenge together. We were…. I mean, I was… but he didn’t…’ She sighed and shook her head. Looker nodded in understanding, but didn’t interrupt her. ‘Anyway, obviously, being the prodigy that he was, he won every single battle he fought and I didn’t, so he became the champion. Somewhere over the years he must have heard what Rose was doing, but you have to believe me: Leon is the best trainer there is! He doesn’t need matchfixing, he is more than capable of winning the championship battles himself!’  
‘Was,’ Looker corrected her. ‘He _was_ more than capable. He isn’t champion anymore.’  
‘No, that’s true. He…’ she hesitated again. Against his better instincts, Looker walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders.  
‘I am on your side here Sonia. But you have to let me help you. I can’t prove anyone’s innocence if I don’t know the full story.’  
That seemed to break her. ‘His brother was there. Hop, and someone who took the gym challenge with him. They were the ones to defeat Rose, they were the ones to stop the Darkest Day, and not Leon.’  
Looker let go of her and leaned against his desk. ‘But of course you all kept that quiet, because you can’t have teenagers running around fighting against dangerous criminals.’ He tried hard to suppress a smile. He couldn’t give Sonia the impression that he wasn’t taking her seriously.  
‘So what are you going to with them?’  
‘Hm? Oh, nothing.’  
‘Really?’  
‘Yes really. Trust me, if I had to jump into action every time I meet a teenager fighting criminals, then I wouldn’t get anything else done. Don’t worry about that. So I’m guessing Leon resigned as champion to make clear that he wouldn’t rig the championship for his brother, so that Hop has a fair chance at the next one right?’  
‘Uh… yeah,’ Sonia said, a little confused. She clearly didn’t expect this response from Looker.  
‘Alright then, that clears it all up for me.’  
‘Wait, that was it?’  
‘Yes. Well, no, not really, but that is all I need from you for the time being. I’m still convinced that Rose had some help, but it’s clear to me that neither you nor Nessa had anything to do with that. So, miss Sonia, given that we are done here now: would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Hulbury Market? I have heard good things about it and have been very eager to explore it myself.’

The Hulbury Market was precisely what Looker expected it to be. The exotic goods that sailors brought in from all over the world were being sold and traded here, and it made for a nice conversation starter to see items from his previous adventures be showcased by the salesmen in the harbor. Sonia made for very pleasant company, put at ease knowing that neither she nor Leon were suspects in Lookers investigation. He did occasionally catch her sneaking a sly look at him or hiding a smile, but she luckily never acted upon it. As the sun started to set, Sonia took him to a bench at the base of the lighthouse where they shared some of the berries they had bought at the market.  
‘Have you really done all of that?’ she asked in amazement.  
‘That, and so much more,’ Looker smiled. ‘But I can’t tell you about the rest of it though. Official international police business.’  
Sonia chuckled as she playfully prodded him in his side. ‘Fine, keep your secrets then, international man of mystery.’ They sat silently on the bench for a while, watching the sun sink away into the sea; the very sea that Looker had arrived on just that morning. It felt like an eternity had passed already since that moment.  
‘So what’s next?’ Sonia asked, as she nibbled away at one of the berries.  
‘I’m not sure,’ Looker answered. ‘Part of me was hoping to solve it right here, but that’s clearly not happening. I guess I’ll go visit the mine that Rose was sent to, the one outside Turffield. That’s as good a place to start as any.’  
‘Well best of luck to you, mister Looker,’ Sonia said. Again with the hidden smile and that look in her eyes that she tried to hide so well. Looker shook his head. It probably couldn’t hurt to create a bit of distance between the two of them for a little while.   
Just as he grabbed another berry from the bag, he heard something rustle in the bushes behind him. Slowly he looked over his shoulder. Sonia had heard it too and followed his lead. A small, dark figure was visible inside it, but he couldn’t clearly see what it was. Carefully he laid the berry down on the ground. A stubby, purple arm reached out for it, tapping around the ground and grabbing the berry on the third try. Sonia laid out another berry, a little further away this time, and watched as the small Pokémon crawled out of the shrubbery towards the berry.  
‘A Toxel!’ she said softly, with endearment in her voice. Looker stood smiling at the little Pokémon that was munching away on the food they had given it. He gently lowered himself and extended his hand to the small Pokémon.  
‘Careful,’ Sonia said. ‘Their skin can hurt if they don’t trust you.’  
‘It’s okay, I know how to handle these little critters.’ The Toxel growled a little as Looker extended his hand, but he didn’t bite or recoil. Looker gently ran his fingers over the head of the little Pokémon and started patting it. The Toxel looked a little suspicious at first, but quickly started to enjoy it and let out little sounds of joy.  
‘There you go little one. I knew you’d like that,’ Looker said as he started to scratch the small Toxel under its chin. ‘What are you doing out here, all alone?’  
The Toxel stopped and let out a sound that almost sounded like a cry or a whimper. He looked at the statues alongside the lighthouse: statues of two Toxtricity.  
‘He’s lost his parents,’ Sonia said. ‘The poor thing.’  
‘And you’re hoping to find them again here.’ Looker sighed. _What is it with you and orphans?_ he said to himself. He grabbed another berry and fed it to the Toxel. ‘Well don’t worry. You don’t have to be alone anymore from now on.’  
‘Do you have any Pokémon already?’ Sonia asked.  
‘Just one. The agency gave me a Corvisquire to help me here.’  
Sonia smiled as the Toxel started to gleefully eat the berry. ‘Well now it seems like you have two.’


	4. Chapter 4

With a loud bang the flying taxi came down. The Corviknight on top of it nestled itself down calmly as if nothing has happened, a sentiment echoed by the pilot who cheerfully jumped down from his bench. With a broad smile he opened up the door of the carriage and yelled: ‘We’ve landed, you can exit safely now mister!’  
Unlike the pilot and the Corviknight, Looker was not happy at all. His face was pale, his eyes widened, and his entire body was trembling. His footing was unsteady, much more so than when he stood on the ship the day before, and his head felt like it was spinning in circles. He was pretty sure that he was about to throw up.  
Half walking, half falling, he exited the carriage, thanking every imaginable power that he was standing on solid ground again. ‘Never again,’ he mumbled as he clung to the side of the carriage until his body could find its bearing. ‘Never again. Never again. Never, ever, again.’  
Annoyingly, the Toxel seemed to have no issues whatsoever. With a happy trod he crawled out of the carriage, looking curiously at the place where they had landed. He tilted his head slightly as he looked at Looker, as if he was trying to figure out what was wrong. A faint hint of a smile was on his face though.  
‘Yeah, laugh it up,’ Looker grumbled annoyed. But Toxel instead walked over to his new owner and stretched up against his leg, trying to reach Looker’s hand with his little tongue. Looker bent down a little to let the little Toxel “help” in his own way, and then scratched his new friend under his chin and in his neck. ‘Oh who am I kidding, I could never stay mad at that little face of yours.’  
He picked Toxel up in his arms, drew his wallet and paid the pilot. ‘Will that be enough?’  
‘Very much so sir. Do you want me to stay here for your return flight?’  
‘No! Ahem, I mean, no, that won’t be necessary.’ I rather walk home than step foot in that death-trap ever again, Looker thought to himself.  
‘Very well then. Welcome to Turffield, mister Looker!’

Turffield was even smaller than Looker had imagined it to be. A handful of houses, a small stadium for the gym challenge, and a Pokémon Center. Most of the people he saw appeared to be tourists who came in to town as their first stop on a trip through the rest of Galar. In fact, Looker was fairly certain that this town was home to more Wooloo than people. In just the field closest to the town were already a few dozen of them rolling around, enjoying the brisk air and pleasant sun that fit the early days of autumn.  
Toxel seemed to be interesting by everything he saw. His little head turned from side to side as he tried to look at every single one of the monoliths that were scattered through Turffield. Looker couldn’t help but smile at the soft and happy noises that the small Pokémon in his arms was making. He pressed Toxel a little tighter against his chest in a quick hug.  
‘You know, one of these days I’m gonna have to think of a name for you,’ he said. ‘Any ideas?’ The Toxel looked up at him with a puzzled look on his face, as if he was trying to think of a proper name as well but couldn’t come up with anything. ‘Yeah, I figured as much.’  
Sonia had told him beforehand that the biggest tourist attraction in the town was the geoglyph in the mountainside outside of Turffield, and that before he moved on he just had to have seen it. Since Looker wasn’t on that strict a schedule, he figured he might as well go have a look. Sonia had explained that it presumably displayed something from the Darkest Day, and who knows, maybe this would help him understand Rose and the whole situation in Galar a little bit better.  
The viewing platform was absolutely packed with tourists, all trying to get a glimpse of the geoglyph. Children were running around playing with the monoliths or taking pictures of themselves in the Stonjourner cut-out, and food cart vendors were doing spectacular business. Looker wasn’t a small man, but even he was struggling to see the geoglyph properly over the large amount of people.  
‘Excuse me, sir?’ a voice said to his side. Looker turned around and saw a family, all dressed in Turffield-branded shirts and caps. The father had spoken to him and held out his phone. ‘Could you maybe take a picture of us? Right here between these two stones, and if possible with that large glyph in the background.’  
‘Eh… sure.’ Looker put Toxel down on the ground and clumsily took over the Rotom-phone. He wasn’t familiar with this model – and definitely not with the sentient being inside of it – and almost dropped it in an attempt to find the camera button. He stumbled forward trying to catch it, and thereby bumped into one of the other people standing around. The camera clicked and a bright flash completely blinded Looker.  
‘Watch it!’ the other person grumbled. Looker couldn’t see anything from the figure other than an olive green blur from his clothes. He blinked a few times, trying to get his eyesight back.  
‘Sorry sir, I…’ he frowned. He still couldn’t see all that clearly, but enough to know that whoever he had bumped into had already disappeared. He looked at the Rotom-phone. Maybe…  
‘Hey, how do I check the last picture?’ he asked the owner of the phone.  
‘Uh, you just tap here, and then here.’ The man showed him. Just as Looker had suspected, the last picture had a partial shot of the other man. The olive green blur that Looker had seen turned out to be a suit, the fancy type they sold in Wyndon and Circhester. The man was build slenderly and appeared to be walking with a slight hunch, as if he had been carrying a heavy weight for a long time. The man’s head was outside of the picture so Looker couldn’t see his face, but he did see a glimpse of very light blonde hair, almost grey.  
‘Do you mind if I send this to myself?’ he asked the perplexed father. Without waiting for an answer he took out his own phone and started the file transfer.  
‘What kind of model is that?’ the man asked curiously. ‘I have never seen anything like it.’  
‘It’s a foreign model,’ Looker said. The full answer would be too complex right now. The phone wasn’t as fancy as the Rotom-phone with an actual Pokémon inside it, but Looker’s phone had much more computing power and could easily reach any region he needed to reach. When Lysandre Labs wasn’t funding a terrorist operation, they actually made some pretty decent gadgets.  
After the image was sent to his own phone, Looker took the picture of the family and left the town square with Toxel. Sonia was right that the glyph was interesting, but that was not why Looker had come to Turffield. He would have to study the shot of the man in the olive suit a bit more later on; he wasn’t sure why, but something about the stranger didn’t sit right with him. And his intuition had never failed him before. But that was later. Right now, he had a mine to get to.

The creatively named Galar Mine 1 was the first mine that Rose’s company had started work in. It formed the basis for his entire enterprise, his wealth and his power. It was almost poetic that the thing that started his journey would also be where it ended, Looker thought with a smile. He took the Poké Ball from his pocket and for the first time since arriving in Galar let the Pokémon out.  
The Corvisquire was a little bit smaller than most of its species, but in this case that was actually an advantage. Looker grabbed a poffin from his pocket and threw it up in the air, where the Corvisquire snatched it up instantly. Looker gestured with his head toward the large open mine.  
‘Go up ahead. You’re my eyes in the sky, so to speak. If there’s anything you don’t trust, you come right to me.’  
The Corvisquire let out an affirmative caw and dashed away into the darkness of the mine. Looker picked up Toxel and scratched him behind his head.  
‘Ready for this, little buddy?’ Before he could go in however, he was stopped by a shout from inside.  
‘Oi, you there! Did you just send in that Corvisquire?’  
‘I most certainly did. Who’s asking?’  
‘I could ask you the same thing mate!’ the voice shouted. A large, muscular man covered in dust and dirt walked out of the darkness of the mine. ‘I’m the foreman here, so I’m the one in charge. What’s the deal with the bird?’  
Looker pulled his badge out of his pocket. ‘International police, here on an official investigation.’  
The man didn’t seem impressed. ‘Still doesn’t explain the Corvisquire, mate.’  
Looker shrugged. ‘Well, you know, a bird in a coalmine to check if everything is safe and alright… it just felt fitting.’  
‘Oh you must think yourself terribly clever don’t ya?’  
‘A little bit, yeah.’ Looker shook his head. People never appreciated his sense of humor. ‘Look sir, I have no desire to upset you. I’m only here for one specific person, that’s all. Neither me nor my Pokémon will be in your way.’  
The man scoffed with a hint of a smile. ‘Let me guess: blondie.’  
‘What? No,’ Looker frowned. ‘Chairman Rose.’  
The foreman now let out a roaring laugh. ‘Well then you’re a few decades too late there mate. Rose hasn’t been here since he started wearing them fancy suits.’  
‘I was told Rose was working here now, as part of his sentence.’  
‘Well if he is, he’s darn good at hiding. I haven’t seen him at all, only that blonde woman that was like his secretary or something. She’s in there right now, so feel free to talk to her. It’s not like she’s doing anything useful anyway. We have her seeking out locations where there’s rocks in the ground.’  
Looker frowned. ‘Isn’t this a mountain? Meaning there’s rocks… well, everywhere?’  
The foreman smiled. ‘My point exactly.’  
Looker chuckled and shook his head. ‘Alright, much appreciated sir. You’re doing your region and the entire world a big service by…’  
‘Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. Just don’t get in our way.’  
The mine was easily navigated, and with the help of a few miners Looker had found Oleana within minutes. Not that she was hard to distinguish from the rest of the people: she was the only person not wearing a hardhat or miner’s clothes, and instead of a pickaxe or shovel she was carrying a clipboard.   
‘Miss Oleana, I presume. My name is Looker, I’m-’  
‘One moment mister Looker. I am currently preoccupied with a very important task.’  
‘So I’ve heard,’ Looker said with a smile. ‘I’m afraid this can’t wait miss Oleana. I’m with the International Police and I have some questions for you.’  
Oleana turned around, her eyebrows arched in a curious but critical way, as if she tried to judge whether or not Looker was worth her time. ‘And what questions might those be?’ There was a hint of annoyance in her voice.  
‘Well, let’s start with the big one: where is chairman Rose?’  
She snorted, and her look became one of almost boredom. ‘Your guess is as good as mine. I have not seen him since we decided to work here as part of our sentencing.’  
‘You were his second in command, and you expect me to believe that you don’t know anything about his whereabouts?’  
‘Are you questioning my honestly, mister Looker?’  
‘Well, frankly, yes. You are a convicted criminal after all, and so far you haven’t given me much reason to trust your word. What are you hiding from me?’  
Her face turned furious in the blink of an eye. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, her nostrils flared up, and Looker could swear that her hair started dancing around her. It was a look he had gotten all too familiar with from another powerful businesswoman in Alola.  
‘I don’t have to take this insult! I am important, I am powerful, and, most importantly: I am now extremely peeved with you mister! When I say something, I mean it! So I say to you-’  
Her tirade got interrupted by Toxel letting out a brief shout. Looker and Oleana both turned to look at it, trying to understand what he meant by it.  
‘Excuse me, but I was in the middle of something!’ Oleana shouted.  
‘What is it, little buddy?’ Looker asked. Toxel only looked upwards to the ceiling. Just as Looker turned his eyes up as well, Corvisquire appeared in the hallway, crowing a warning shout. Looker immediately knew enough; he threw Toxel up in the air where Corvisquire caught him and flew towards the exit right away. Then Looker dashed towards Oleana, grabbed her by her waist and threw her over his shoulder.  
‘What do you think you’re doing!?! Put me down right now! I will have your badge for this! Do you know who I am? I am-’  
Before she could finish her sentence, the entire hallway of the cave collapsed and came crushing down right where Looker and Oleana had been standing just a few seconds before. A moment later came the far too late warning from one of the miners: ‘Watch it down below!’  
Looker put Oleana down again, dusted himself off and coughed twice to get the dust out of his lungs. He could barely see from the dustclouds that had now filled the cave, but he didn’t need to see to know one thing very certain. ‘This was no accident.’


	5. Chapter 5

‘Like I told you before: I’m fine!’ Looker said, getting slightly annoyed. The Turffield Police officer had asked him three times already, and that seemed to be the only thing he was capable of asking. The mine collapse was sudden, but not significant. Only a small portion has caved in without leaving any substantial damage to the rest of the mine, and nobody was harmed. It just so happened to be that Looker and Oleana were the only two people in the spot where the roof of the mine caved in.  
‘Alright, alright, leave the man be,’ said a kind voice behind the officer. A large, young man with red curly hair walked up the hill, flanked by half a dozen Wooloo’s. He smiled friendly to Looker and gave a nod to the officer. ‘I’ll take it from here, you go check on the miners, see what they can tell you.’ The officer gave a quick nod as answer and left the two men outside the entrance of the mine. The tall man extended his hand.  
‘Milo. I’m the gym leader here. I’m guessing you must be mister Looker,’  
‘Uh… yes,’ Looker said surprised, as he shook Milo’s hand. The gym leader laughed.  
‘Don’t worry, Sonia and Nessa called ahead to tell me you were heading this way. You’ve left quite the impression on them. In two very different ways, if I may say so.’  
‘Yeah, I know,’ Looker said, slightly embarrassed. Clearly Milo already knew more than Looker would have told him himself. But if Sonia and Nessa trusted him, that probably meant that he had nothing to fear from this gentle giant.  
At that moment Corvisquire came back down, still carrying Toxel on his back. After they had made it safely outside, Looker had sent his two Pokémon scouting the area to see if they could find any clues about the cause of the explosion. Corvisquire put Toxel down on the ground, shook of the dust from the explosion that was still caught in his feathers, and nestled himself on Looker’s shoulder. Toxel decided that the slightly wet grass was probably a better way to clean himself and started to roll around in it with a gleeful look on his face.  
Milo laughed and bowed down to Toxel. ‘And who might this little fella be?’  
‘I haven’t settled on a name for him yet,’ Looker said with a smile. ‘I found him in Hulbury, near the lighthouse, and decided to take care of him. Well, actually, Sonia sort of decided that for me.’  
Milo laughed again. ‘Yeah, she does that. She means well of course. And it seems like Toxel really likes you.’ Toxel had now stopped rolling around in the grass and cuddled up to Looker’s leg, his face being a mixture of tired from all the excitement and curiosity for this strange man staring at him. Milo scratched him briefly behind his ears – which Toxel answered with a very happy cry – and then turned to Looker again with a more serious look.  
‘So what happened here?’  
‘I’m guessing you already have a pretty good idea.’  
‘Just a day after you arrive in Galar we have the first mine collapse in years, right in the spot where you’re standing with the assistant of Chairman Rose. It’s not difficult to piece together.’  
‘That’s what I was thinking too. The foreman said that it was an unstable beam that broke down, but I don’t believe it. It looks like somebody doesn’t want me to investigate this situation.’ Looker allowed himself a cocky smile. ‘Clearly they don’t know much about me if they think this will stop me.’  
Milo grinned. ‘So what now?’  
‘Well, whoever did this has probably fled town already. The best way to catch them is to keep up my investigation, and I’ll most likely run into them again. My next stop was Stow-on-Side, so I guess that’s where I’m gonna go.’  
Milo nodded. ‘Just watch your back. Whoever did this is most likely not gonna stop at one try.’ Then he looked over to the mine entrance, where Oleana was being questioned by a few police officers. ‘Do you want to talk to her still?’  
Looker felt a shiver running down his back. ‘Do you?’  
Milo let out a thunderous laugh, as Oleana in the background yelled to the officers: ‘DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO?!?!’  
‘If she says anything sensible, just let me know,’ said Looker with a chuckle, happy to not have to talk to her much longer. He had a feeling she had told him all she knew already anyway. He extended his hand again. ‘It was nice meeting you Milo.’  
‘Likewise. Can I call you a flying taxi to take you to Stow-on-Side?’  
Looker’s face turned pale at just the thought. ‘Absolutely not!’ he said, much louder than he intended. ‘Ahem, I mean, eh, no, that won’t be necessary. I think I’ll take the train there.’  
‘Are you sure? It’s much further with the train. You have to go around the entire Wild Area instead of just flying over it.’  
‘Oh yes, I am very sure.’  
‘Well alright then. Come, I’ll walk you to the train station.’  
‘Appreciate the offer, but there’s no need for that. You just stay here and care for your people, I’ll find my own way. Gives me an excuse to see a little more about the town.’ He smiled and nodded to Milo, as a sign that the conversation was over. Milo answered the nod and, flanked by his horde of Wooloo’s, went to the mine entrance where the police officers were still talking to the miners and the very angry Oleana. Looker went the other direction, downhill towards the town, with Toxel proudly parading alongside him. When they were far enough from the mine, Corvisquire shook his head, let out a short caw and opened his beak. A small green object attached to a bunch of wires fell out of his beak into Looker’s opened hand.  
‘Nice work,’ he whispered, as he scratched Corvisquire on the head. He looked at the small object in his hand. Looker was by no means an expert electrician, but he had seen enough explosives to know what this was used for. ‘Unstable support beam huh? I don’t think so.’

The Galar train was famous for its comfort, and Looker had to admit that it wasn’t oversold by any measure. With a grimace he thought that the train carriage might even be more comfortable than the home in Hulbury that Nessa had arranged for him. There were only two other passengers in the carriage, so he felt confident enough to examine the small object Corvisquire had taken from the mine. Toxel sat alongside him, staring at the object on the table, though Looker was pretty sure that the small purple Pokémon had no clue what he was actually looking at. As always during travel, Corvisquire preferred to stay inside his ball.  
The object was probably the trigger used to set off the explosive. It wasn’t a cellphone, like Looker had so often seen in the movies, but looked more like a small metal stick with a green cap on it. It was unclear what was used to set the detonator off, but he probably wouldn’t be sure until he found out who did it. The wires attached to the trigger were completely torn apart by the explosion.  
‘Mind if I sit here?’ a voice said suddenly. Looker had been so captivated by the detonator that he hadn’t noticed the man standing besides him. Completely startled, he quickly shoved the detonator into his pocket and looked at the stranger.  
The man was tall, with a slight hunch in his back. He had long dark hair with streaks of white in it, even though he seemed far too young to be turning grey already. His face was friendly, but it looked very tired, as if he hadn’t slept in days. He wore a white leather jacket with small spikes all over it, and black clothes underneath it.  
‘Do you mind?’ he asked again, as he pointed to the seat opposite Looker. Looker looked around at the many empty seats in the cabin.  
‘Eh… why here?’ he asked, before realizing how rude it was to say something like that. C’mon Looker, you were raised better than this, he thought to himself.  
‘Because you seem like an interesting person, and all the other people here seem very, very boring,’ the man said with a hint of a smile. Behind him, Looker could see one of the other passengers looking very offended, but he didn’t say anything to them. Looker’s politeness came back, and he made a gesture towards the seat. The man nodded in thanks, sat down and extended his hand.  
‘Piers.’  
‘Looker.’  
Piers laughed. ‘Well, somebody thinks quite highly of themselves. Please tell me that’s a codename or something.’  
Looker quickly looked away to make sure his eyes couldn’t betray him, but it was already too late.  
‘It is?’ Piers leaned in a bit. ‘Well now I know I was right: you are definitely the most interesting person on this train. A codename… are you a spy of sorts?’  
‘Of sorts,’ Looker said, having resigned to his fate. There was a time when he was amazing at disguises and staying incognito, but Piers had him pegged right away. Luckily Team Plasma was a lot dumber than this man. ‘Look, you understand that I…’  
Piers held his hands up in a surrendering gesture. ‘You can’t tell me anything about it, I completely understand. I won’t ask anything. I won’t even ask if this has anything to do with Chairman Rose.’ He smiled a subtle smile and leaned back in his chair. ‘So, mister spy of sorts, where are you going on this fine day? Or can you not even tell me about that?’  
Looker rolled his eyes and smiled back. ‘Stow-on-Side. I heard there was a particularly interesting mural there.’  
‘ _ **Was**_ being the operative word there. Rose’s lacky Bede destroyed it. He did everyone a favor if you ask me, that thing was hideous. Apparently there was a beautiful statue hidden behind it, and the town now looks all the better for it. But I never said that, of course.’  
Looker grinned. ‘Don’t worry, I’m great at keeping secrets.’ As to confirm it, Toxel let out a happy coo. Piers seemed to notice him only now, and immediately held out his hand.  
‘Well look at you there little man. Are you enjoying the view on this ride? Here, I have something you’ll like.’ He pulled out a small object that looked like a cookie from his pocket and fed it to the Toxel. Toxel immediately gobbled it up, and dartled to Piers in anticipation of more cookies.  
‘What was that?’ Looker asked surprised.  
‘A Spikemuth Wafer, a delicacy from my hometown. Toxel absolutely love them for some reason. I have a Toxtricity myself, so I knew this would make this little guy here happy. They’re fiercely loyal Pokémon, as you’ve probably noticed, but they’re not really great in battle until they evolve.’  
‘There’s more ways to be useful than just in battle,’ Looker said.  
‘That’s absolutely true,’ Piers smiled back. He pulled the bag of wafers out of his pocket and gave it to Looker. ‘Here, you can take the rest. I can get plenty more if I want them.’  
‘Thanks,’ said Looker as he stuffed the bag into his own pocket. Toxel immediately climbed down from the table and onto the bench, sniffing at Looker’s pocket and trying to sneak his little paw into it to grab another cookie. ‘So why are you going to Stow-on-Side?’ Looker asked. He subtly pushed Toxel’s paw away from the cookies.  
‘Me? Well, I’m on a tour of sorts. I just quit my job, and I decided to go around the region to work on my real passion: music.’  
‘Oh you’re a singer?’ Looker asked, as if the clothes hadn’t already given him all the answer he needed.  
‘Singer and songwriter,’ Piers nodded. ‘So right now I’m going to see if the people can appreciate my art in other places than Spikemuth as well. So after you watch the statue formerly known as a mural, then where do you go next?’  
‘Ballonlea,’ Looker answered, taking Toxel’s paw out of his pocket again. This time Toxel had managed to grab a cookie and looked away with a very guilty look. Before Looker could do anything though, the cookie was already in Toxel’s mouth. ‘I was hoping to speak to Bede, and I heard he’s a gym leader there nowadays.’  
‘Well, I can save you some trouble then: he won’t be in Ballonlea. He’s gone to Wyndon for the new championship matches. They’re gonna select a new champion soon now that Leon has stepped down, and Bede wanted to be there early to prepare.’  
‘Oh, I didn’t know that,’ Looker admitted. He sharply looked at Toxel, who seemed to prepare to go towards his pocket again. ‘Well, that saves me a trip to Ballonlea I suppose.’  
‘You’re welcome for that,’ Piers said. ‘That place gives me the creeps. I’m pretty sure that at least half that town is dead. Really spooky place.’  
The train now crossed over a bridge, and through the window Looker could see a large lake surrounded by grasslands and some trees. An old, crumbled down watchtower stood on a hill watching over it. The large open fields disappeared behind a town, but Looker could see that they went on a lot further.  
‘Our Wild Area,’ Piers said, having followed Looker’s eyes. ‘It’s a good thing you’re in here instead of out there. You’re not gonna last long in there with just a Toxel by your side. Loyal as he may be, he is no match for the wild Pokémon you’re gonna find there.’ As if to support the argument by Pierce, a large Braviary just flew up from the trees and let out a mighty cry before shooting down again. Toxel let out a scared sound as he cowered away in Looker’s coat, sneakily reaching for the cookies in the process. In complete amazement Looker stared at the wild, untamed part of land outside the windows. He had seen many places in the world that had their own unique challenges, but this was something completely new to all of it.  
‘It’s not my kind of place,’ Piers said. ‘Too bright for me, too open, and with far too much going on. Plus I’m not a fan of all that dynamax nonsense. Nah, I much prefer it in Spikemuth, where nothing much seems to happen.’  
Looker chuckled absentmindedly. ‘You ever been to Alola? I know a guy there, and I think you two would get along real well.’  
‘Never been, but I’ll keep it in mind,’ Piers smiled.  
The voice over the intercom announced that the next stop would be Motostoke, forcing Looker to stop staring at the Wild Area. Piers looked at his watch and leaned back in his seat.  
‘Might as well get comfortable. It looks like we’ll be here for a while before we get to Stow-on-Side. Wanna play some cards?’


End file.
